News

Village Hires New Public Works Director

Post Date:10/04/2018 9:23 AM

Elk Grove Village is excited to announce the hiring of Colby J. Basham as the new Public Works Director following a national search for candidates to lead this vital operational department. Basham’s first day on the job will be October 29, 2018, and he will work alongside current Public Works Director Vito Sammarco until Vito retires on November 30. Sammarco is retiring after over 20 years of service to the Elk Grove Village community.

Colby Basham is highly qualified and brings a unique combination of skills and experience from both the public and private sector to Elk Grove Village, where he will be the fourth Public Works Director for the community.Basham holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Management, a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and is a veteran of the United States Air Force. He began his career in the private sector, working for Bosch Tool Corporation; HILTI, Inc; and NES Rentals Holdings, where he oversaw a staff of 180 across the nation.

For almost a decade now, Basham has served the City of Elgin, a community three times the size of Elk Grove Village, with a population of over 110,000. During his time with Elgin, Basham served in positions of increasing responsibility as the Public Works Superintendent; Interim Public Works Director; and Neighborhood Services Director, leading a hybrid department that combines operations with customer service.

Throughout his career in the public and private sectors, Basham has maintained a strong focus on customer-service. While with the City of Elgin, he brought a customer-focused philosophy to operations in streets, water, sewer, forestry and snow operations. As the Elgin Neighborhood Services Director, Basham oversaw operations of a 3-1-1 contact center, where he worked daily to resolve issues for customers.

Basham is a consensus builder, and an innovator, and he will bring a “swiss army knife” of valuable leadership experience to the community. Basham began his career at a company in the Elk Grove Village Business Park, and is returning to the community to finish his career. Colby Basham has been married to his wife Lisa for 28 years, and they have two adult sons. Colby and Lisa will be relocating to Elk Grove Village in the next 18 months.

“I congratulate Village staff on their efforts in conducting a national search to identify the best candidate to serve as the next Public Works Director.“ said Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson, “We are excited to welcome Colby Basham to the community, where he can continue our long-standing tradition of exceptional service.”

The Elk Grove Village Public Works Department consists of 59 full-time and 5 part-time employees who are responsible for the maintenance of streets, parkway trees, street lights, storm and waste water collection systems, and a water system that delivers 4.6 million gallons of water to the community each day. The Public Works Department also maintains Village vehicles and facilities, oversees infrastructure construction projects, and delivers a variety of essential community services, including snow and ice control and leaf collection. Public Works employees also function as “First Responders” working hand in hand with Fire and Police personnel during emergency operations to address critical issues and restore community services.